Petra Kvitova breezes through maiden Stuttgart title after difficult year
"I really had to push myself to play more aggressive and not really giving her time to do her job," Petra Kvitova had said concerning Anett Kontaveit her opponent at the Porsche Tennis Grand Prix in Stuttgart, Germany. She admits that all the players are improving their standard of the game but tries to keep herself in check taking care of her strategies in order to win. The Czech whose sleek playing mantra had just gifted her with a 27th career title defeating the Estonian 6-3, 7-6 is relieved she could stay consistent at Stuttgart. "I'm pretty glad that my forehand winner went down the line at my match point," she said giving a big laugh.
But everything wasn't so funny and organized as Kvitova started this new 2019 season. There was a collection of skills and strategies that she came in contact with when playing Naomi Osaka at the Australian Open. She did make it to the final opposite the young Japanese but she found herself struggling to find answers to Osaka's rallies and cross courting dynamics. Kvitova would only falter in a slew of unforced errors and missed returns. She was glad at her success though with the warm-up tournament at the Sydney International by capturing the title away from the Australian icon Ashleigh Barty. The Czech went onto the St. Petersburg Open in Russia to defend her title, winning last year over France's Kristina Mladenovic. But things didn't go very well there as she bowed to an upcoming tough opponent, Donna Vekic whose determination and skills were rock solid on the court. The Croat defeated the Czech in straight sets of 6-4, 6-1 clobbering her with six straight games in a row, stopping her run at the quarterfinal. Kvitova might have had some concerns now seeing that her techniques were failing at each tournament. She gave Vekic many gifts especially the disastrous 42 unforced errors in a push of less than a 90-minute match.
It's always better looking at the future and the Czech had no other choice hopefully to find her form again at the Dubai Tennis Championships. Many say three times the charm but it wasn't for Kvitova. She'd made the final with Switzerland's Belinda Bencic but had a tough time winning most of her rounds which went to three-setters. Bencic was playing great coming off from chronic injuries and wrist surgery and she proved herself as she grabbed the Dubai title from Kvitova whose game had fizzled tremendously. The young Swiss Miss would put Kvitova on her list as the fourth top 10 players she'd defeated on her slow climb back up the WTA rankings. But for the Czech, she wasn't feeling that list as an honour at all and moved on to the Miami Open vying to do better.
Kvitova looked on the bright side of defeating Donna Vekic in the second round in Miami, since her fall from grace back in St. Petersburg. She had also won over Caroline Garcia then there was the quarterfinal meeting with Ashleigh Barty. Memories had resurfaced to the beatdown she was given by the Aussie at the Sydney International quarterfinals. Here she was again at the quarterfinals but this time in Miami. Kvitova's luck had fallen again and she was defeated in three sets by the consistent Australian.
There were more up days for the Czech as she outlasted all of her opponents and at the next tournament in Stuttgart, she won the title away from Estonia's Anett Kontaveit in straight sets. "...This is the icing on the cake..." Kvitova had said on her social media. It was a sweet victory a long road and four months into the season having success. This is the second title Kvitova has won since January and she was ever so grateful of winning. She had muddled through four finals throughout the year so far with finally seeing progress.
The opponents are getting better and better and Kvitova knows that it may get more difficult to win if she's not at the top of her game. But it's said that 'any given day' one player can beat another. All that Petra Kvitova hopes for is that the player that not only struggles but wins comes out to be her.
from Tennis World USA http://bit.ly/2PE3kAw
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